Monday, October 31, 2011

Style Share return - Pendleton tie

I guess I just had to silently get grumpy to myself about not receiving any Style Share returns in quite awhile, because after TDP offered up a nice picture of him with the Brooks Brothers tie from October, another return hit my inbox late last week.

Pendleton tie

This time, it was Jason, also from last month, who claimed the thick Pendleton tie pictured above.

Pendleton detail

photo courtesy Jason

As stated in his email, Jason paired it up with a Gant Rugger ocbd, vintage Lands' End jacket, and green Rugby cords. Tons of great fall colors all working together well.

Pendleton and pants

photo courtesy Jason

He even sent along a second shot showing the details (and left me curious about the footwear as well). Thanks again for participating, Jason!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Out with the old and in with the slightly less old

Earlier this evening, my wife and I finally got rid of the piece of furniture that we'd owned for nearly as long as we've known each other. Way back when we first met, a mutual friend of ours was getting rid of said piece of furniture (which she herself had bought used!), and my wife snagged it for her small apartment as a way to save a bit of money. Later, it moved with us to our rental house, then finally the house that we bought, where it lived for years and years as we slowly purchased nicer pieces to surround it with. It was one of those pieces that was comfortable as hell, but frankly was starting to really show its age. It had a few ink spots from a dropped marker, the fabric was starting to show wear in multiple spots, and one of the cushions was permanently flipped upside-down after one of our dogs found a small tear in the covering and decided to perform crude surgery on it (see below).

bad dog

We'd talked about paying to have someone re-cover it, but ultimately decided against it due to the cost involved and the fact that a new upholstery job simply wouldn't mask some of the larger issues. In the meantime, it's just been sitting there as we kept our eyes out for something interesting at a reasonable price. Fortunately, our patience (or indecision) paid off, and we ran across this insanely beautiful couch this past weekend.

new sofa

Made by Patrician (who apparently cater more specifically to the corporate, healthcare and government markets), it's a very well-constructed sofa in the mid century modern style, running a full 7+ feet in length. It has a chrome frame, naugahyde cover, and it looks like it's barely been used. I have no idea what this sort of thing would cost new (even back in the late 60s or early 70s when it was likely made), and even though we needed some help from family who own a van in getting it home, I think it was well worth the c-note we spent on it.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Style Share return - Brooks Brothers tie

Has it really been over 4 months since a Style Share return? Sadly, it has.

Brooks Brothers burgundy

Fortunately, TDP got back to me with his contribution after snagging the above Brooks Brothers tie earlier this month.

Brooks Brothers return

photo courtesy TDP

Rocking the trad look, he paired it up with a lovely tweed jacket from the Andover shop (thrifted, what a score!), and a white Brooks Brothers button-down shirt. I'm betting that the tie blended in perfectly with the fall leaves in his locale as well.

Thanks TDP, for sending the photo in. There will be another Style Share next month sometime (the 10th edition), so stay tuned.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Pinwheel in the pocket

Although I've built a fairly large and vast collection of tie over my years of thrifting and hunting around, one area that I'm still trying to round out a little more are different accessories. I've managed to put together a wide array of very cool belts, and because I don't wear them very often (or frankly, find them very often), I've only purchased a couple very nice ascots over the years. I've managed to put together a small, but solid rotation of pocket squares, but like ties, I'm always on the hunt for something nice.

outfit detail

A couple weeks ago, I ran across this lovely silk piece with hand-rolled edges and a starburst pattern featuring eight different colors and a border and center dot of black. It may seem sort of gimmicky, but other than the obvious nice quality, one of the things I really love about it is its versatility. I've worn it 3 times already, with 3 completely different colored outfits, and based on the way I let it flow, I can work a nice number of color combinations. One day, there were two shades of blue peeking out, and another it was olive and taupe.

pocket square detail

Today, I plucked a bit of the burgundy and a small wedge of the silver side (without being too fussy about it, of course) to go with a subdued outfit of color-flecked gray Pendleton sport coat, a merlot-colored merino sweater vest, and a chunky wool fair-isle tie from Lands' End. It's a fairly simple pattern, but darn if it hasn't been a go-to in the past couple weeks.

As if you couldn't tell, the weather is getting colder here, and it's officially into my favorite season in terms of wardrobe. It's also nearing the end of October, and you know what that means...

baby in costume

Halloween officially becomes fun again when you have a child to dress up, and Matilda (who's almost six months!) is shown here in her penguin outfit with a pumpkin we grew in our garden. She's still too little to trick or treat, but that's no excuse to not be festive, right?

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Style Share - October

Hey, it's everyone's favorite time of the month! Although you may have thought I'd discontinued it, Style Share is here and not going anywhere (for now at least). As always, the only thing I ask is that the recipient of said item of free* clothing email me back a photo or two of them wearing it for a follow-up post on this site. First three ties claimed will be sent out.

Brooks Bros foullard

Vintage Brooks Brothers with a great, softened geometric print, amazingly unclaimed from last month. Cream, teal and purple coloring to jut at a right angle from too conservative.

Brooks Brothers burgundy

Yet another Brooks Brothers unclaimed from last month, this one is in perfect fall colors. Burgundy, gold, and green; what could be better?

vintage Robert Talbott

Vintage Robert Talbott tie in burgundy with an embroidered duck motif. I know that duck hunting season started last month in a lot of states in our fair country, but it's not too late to own this one.

Pendleton tie

Pendleton tie in super thick wool in deep, dark fall colors. Pair it with a tweed, pair it with a dark suit or wear it with jeans, it will work with just about anything.

As always, claim your item in the comments, then shoot me an email to let me know your address so I can get you your tie.

*Seriously, it's free, and yours to keep forever. No strings attached. I won't share your name on the site or with anyone else unless you have a blog of your own that you want me to link. Please note that all clothing will be used (but certainly not stained, smelly, or damaged, as I do have standards), so please only agree to participate if this sort of thing doesn't gross you out. Thanks!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Golden leaves and gold buttons

The past couple weeks have been kind of a haze around here, in some ways rather literally. Just about the time we had a weekend all planned for ourselves to get a lot of things done, a flu bug swooped through our household and basically wiped out my wife and I for a couple days each, somehow sparing the youngest one in the household. Everything got put on hold for a week or so, but we're hopefully out of the woods again now and ready to slip into a new steady schedule.

A couple weeks ago I made a post about a jacket that had circuitously found its way into a friends hands, and how I had then met him in person for dinner and he extended the favor of a jacket to me. The lighter, vintage black Gant jacket has made several appearances since then, as it's just about the perfect weight for days that start out on the cool side then warm up to indian-summer temperatures. Today was yet another one of those days, and after seeing more leaves than usual coming down this week, I decided to play off the gold buttons of the sport coat with a gold silk knit tie from a haul back in May.

gold, black and navy

As mentioned above, the jacket is actually black, but when paired with blues actually sort of takes on some of their coloring and looks closer to the very traditional navy blazer. I picked a shirt with a faint pattern that played with the boxy weave of the tie and yet another square pattern in the pocket square.

gold black and navy detail

Below, I went with gray chinos (the spray-starched lines of which were completely obliterated at the end of the day when this pic was taken) and black wingtips. Fairly understated as a whole, but with just a few little hints of color.

YWP, thanks again for the jacket, and good eyeball on the sizing. As you can see, it fits quite well, even without alterations.